Under The Radar – US Warship Interception

1,982 views  |   November 12th, 2018 

Could it have been this US Carrier spotted off UK waters recently?

Could the US Warship have been this US Carrier spotted off UK waters recently?

 

 

Which section of the Colregs deals with Warships again?

 

There is a saying that men and ships rot in port. I can tell the reader that by Friday morning we were rested and refreshed and with a bearable forecast of basically fine weather, we were ready to put to sea once again, albeit with the prospect of punching into a forecast 15 -20kt southerly breeze dead on the nose. After leaving our unusually rolly berth and bunkering more than 550litres of fuel we were off motor sailing with a single reefed main and the foredeck prepped with the Staysail and our No2 Yankee. Once into our watch routine after lunch, we all agreed that the boat had a bearably pleasant motion in spite of the need to motor sail, quite a contrast from our earlier battering in Biscay.

The watches passed uneventfully (more dolphin sightings) until before midnight when I spotted a dim light fine off our starboard bow. The target had no AIS signature and it was a good 45 minutes or more before we decided it was neither a yacht nor fishing boat, but something much larger. Eventually, US Warship 75 identified itself on the VHF and suggested a course alteration by both them and us to pass safely. Difficult to judge distance at night as we passed perhaps 2or 3 NM to her port but she was huge, we believe perhaps a carrier. The crew were in discussion as to which ship it was and where it was going. I think that Google might be getting a visit once we are on dry land again to see just what we passed.

As we left Capes St Vincent and Trafalgar in our wake I couldn’t help thinking how lucky we all are aboard CH 3 compared to the hardships experienced by those brave souls aboard the ships of the line involved in those epic battles more than 200 years ago. By daybreak Saturday the wind had veered a couple of points allow the staysail to go up and by 10:00 hrs, after bacon rolls for breakfast,  we were sailing hard on the breeze flying the Yankee 2 —-engine off and peace at last, happy days!

The rest of Saturday passed uneventfully, with the crew of the good ship CH3 settled in their watches. Watch Leader Tom prepared a delicious lunch of pizza wraps with a twist.  The sun was out and the temperature had gone up a couple of degrees and we were all happy. By the afternoon, the wind had backed and dropped in strength, so it was decided to put the metallic sail back up again. The engine was started, but there was a problem, which was noted immediately and it was switched off again. The skipper and mate quickly determined that the impellor had gone, so whilst the skipper and crew member John fixed the problem, we continued to sail as best we could in the light winds. Once the problem was resolved, the Yankee and Staysail were dropped and we were back motor sailing and that is how it has been for the rest of the night.

Hodgie

Check out our Facebook page where some of our followers have been researching which US warship it could be: https://www.facebook.com/FirstClassSailing/

 

More blogs about this Atlantic Adventure can be read here: Portsmouth to Gran Canaria

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Posted by: First Class Sailing

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